Attorney: Father distraught over shooting his son

Libor Jany

Updated 11:57 pm, Monday, October 1, 2012

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School yearbook.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School...

Andre Vasquez, left, and Tyler Giuliano, right, are shown in a Civil Air Patrol encampment photo taken April 2012.

Photo: Contributed Photo

Andre Vasquez, left, and Tyler Giuliano, right, are shown in a...

This was the New Fairfield home of Tyler Giuliano. Photographed Saturday, Sept 29, 2012.

Photo: Michael Duffy

This was the New Fairfield home of Tyler Giuliano. Photographed...

Tyler Giuliano, 15, was a sophomore at New Fairfield High School. Photographed Saturday, Sept 29, 2012.

Photo: Michael Duffy

Tyler Giuliano, 15, was a sophomore at New Fairfield High School....

The residence of Alexis Scocozza at 7 Meetinghouse Hill Circle is seen in New Fairfield, Conn., Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Scocozza's brother and next door neighbor, Jeffery Giuliano, fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense during what appeared to be an attempted burglary early Thursday morning, then discovered that he had killed his son, state police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

The residence of Alexis Scocozza at 7 Meetinghouse Hill Circle is...

Visitors arrive at the home of Jeffrey Giuliano in New Fairfield, Conn., Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Giuliano fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense during what appeared to be an attempted burglary early Thursday morning, then discovered that he had killed his son, Tyler, state police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

Visitors arrive at the home of Jeffrey Giuliano in New Fairfield,...

Students leave New Fairfield High School where in New Fairfield, Conn., Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Tyler Giuliano, a student involved in Civil Air Patrol at the school was killed by his father Jeffrey Giuliano during what appeared to be an attempted burglary early Thursday morning. Giuliano fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense, then discovered that he had killed his son, state police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

Students leave New Fairfield High School where in New Fairfield,...

Visitors arrive at the home of Jeffrey Giuliano in New Fairfield, Conn., Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Giuliano fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense during what appeared to be an attempted burglary early Thursday morning, then discovered that he had killed his son, state police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

NEW FAIRFIELD -- The attorney for Jeffrey Giuliano said Monday the popular elementary school teacher who fatally shot his 15-year-old son last week is consumed with grief and grasping for the same answers that continue to elude his family and investigators.

Attorney Gene Zingaro said the Giuliano family, which adopted Tyler Giuliano from a troubled home, has been devastated by the ordeal.

Jeffrey Giuliano, he said, took it the hardest.

"To say he's not doing well is an understatement. His family has been ravaged by three tragedies all at once," Zingaro said. "They're not doing well. The family is heartbroken. And, they're trying to make sense of all of this. They're searching for answers."

The lawyer said he does not expect criminal charges to be filed against his client. He said evidence retrieved from the scene showed Tyler Giuliano was carrying a knife when confronted by his father on the morning of Sept. 27 and that Jeffrey Giuliano was justified in firing. On Friday, the medical examiner ruled the teenager had died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Authorities have released few details on the shooting, saying it would jeopardize the investigation.

"I believe that is going to be deemed and certified a justifiable shooting," Zingaro said by telephone. "The fact he wasn't charged on the scene, the fact that he hasn't been charged yet, certainly illuminates that fact."

Zingaro said Giuliano, "a trained marksman" with a background in personal and corporate security, had a permit to carry a gun.

The question of whether Jeffrey Giuliano was trying to defend himself is undoubtedly at the core of the shooting investigation, experts said.

Casey Jordan, a criminologist at Western Connecticut State University, said prosecutors will examine whether Jeffrey Giuliano broke the law by firing on his son, apparently believing him to be a burglar trying to break into his sister's house.

One of the key legal questions facing prosecutors is whether Jeffrey Giuliano felt his life was in imminent danger when he shot his son, Jordan said.

"The question is the reasonable person's standard. What would a reasonable person do in that situation? It's a very subjective standard," Jordan said. "Jeff can use as much force as is necessary to stop the force that is perpetrated against him."

In any case such as this, whether a person acted in self-defense is always the critical factor, legal experts agreed.

"In the first place, the prosecutor would have to ask whether or not an ordinary person in that position would believe that their life was in danger," said William Dunlap, who teaches criminal law at Quinnipiac University School of Law.

If, however, investigators determine the father of five "did not warn the `intruder' that he would be shot if he did not desist, or that he was negligent in not recognizing that the apparent intruder was a jokester" he potentially could be charged with negligent homicide, Steven Duke, a professor of law at Yale University said in an email.

Investigators have said they do not know why Tyler Giuliano showed up at his aunt's house in the middle of the night, clad in black and wearing a ski mask.

"The ski mask honestly puts a very evil pall on the situation. I think that everyone is wondering why he was wearing that," Jordan, the criminologist, said.

The shooting has stunned the New Fairfield community. Friends of Tyler Giuliano described a mild-mannered teenager who loved flying and who, like many teens, was only beginning to find himself.

His friends said while he had an unsettled childhood, he never had a predilection for violence.